1.
Jewish philosophy
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Jewish philosophy includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. With their acceptance into society, Jews with secular educations embraced or developed entirely new philosophies to meet the demands of the world in which they now found themselves. Medieval re-discovery of ancient Greek philosophy among the Geonim of 10th century Babylonian academies brought rationalist philosophy into Biblical-Talmudic Judaism, the philosophy was generally in competition with Kabbalah. Both schools would become part of classic Rabbinic literature, though the decline of scholastic rationalism coincided with events which drew Jews to the Kabbalistic approach. For Ashkenazi Jews, emancipation and encounter with secular thought from the 18th-century onwards altered how philosophy was viewed, Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities had later more ambivalent interaction with secular culture than in Western Europe. In the varied responses to modernity, Jewish philosophical ideas were developed across the range of emerging religious movements, Rabbinic literature sometimes views Abraham as a philosopher. Some have suggested that Abraham introduced a philosophy learned from Melchizedek, a midrash describes how Abraham understood this world to have a creator and director by comparing this world to a house with a light in it, what is now called the argument from design. Psalms contains invitations to admire the wisdom of God through his works, from this, some scholars suggest, Judaism harbors a Philosophical under-current. Ecclesiastes is often considered to be the only genuine philosophical work in the Hebrew Bible, its author seeks to understand the place of human beings in the world, Philo attempted to fuse and harmonize Greek and Jewish philosophy through allegory, which he learned from Jewish exegesis and Stoicism. Philo attempted to make his philosophy the means of defending and justifying Jewish religious truths and these truths he regarded as fixed and determinate, and philosophy was used as an aid to truth, and a means of arriving at it. To this end Philo chose from philosophical tenets of Greeks, refusing those that did not harmonize with Judaism such as Aristotles doctrine of the eternity and indestructibility of the world. Dr. Philosophical speculation was not a part of Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbi Akiva has also been viewed as a figure, his statements include 1. )How favored is man, for he was created after an image for in an image, Elokim made man,2. )Everything is foreseen. But the divine decision is made by the preponderance of the good or bad in ones actions, after the Bar Kokhba revolt, Rabbinic scholars gathered in Tiberias and Safed to re-assemble and re-assess Judaism, its laws, theology, liturgy, beliefs and leadership structure. In 219 CE, the Sura Academy was founded by Abba Arika, for the next five centuries, Talmudic academies focused upon reconstituting Judaism and little, if any, philosophic investigation was pursued. These investigations triggered new ideas and intellectual exchange among Jewish and Islamic scholars in the areas of jurisprudence, mathematics, astronomy, logic, Jewish scholars influenced Islamic scholars and Islamic scholars influenced Jewish scholars. Around 733 CE, Mar Natronai ben Habibai moves to Kairouan, then to Spain, borrowing from the Mutakallamin of Basra, the Karaites were the first Jewish group to subject Judaism to Muʿtazila. Rejecting the Talmud and Rabbinical tradition, Karaites took liberty to reinterpret the Tanakh and this meant abandoning foundational Jewish belief structures

2.
Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי‎ ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו‎, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס‎, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד‎ Yid, ייִדן‎, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group

3.
Names of God in Judaism
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The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton YHWH. It is frequently anglicized as Jehovah and Yahweh and written in most English editions of the Bible as the Lord owing to the Jewish tradition of reading it as Adonai out of respect. Rabbinic Judaism describes seven names which are so holy that, once written, should not be erased, The Tetragrammaton, El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai, Ehyeh, and Tzevaot. The documentary hypothesis proposes that the Torah was compiled from original sources. The seven names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness are the Tetragrammaton, El, Elohim, Eloah, Elohai, El Shaddai, in addition, the name Jah—because it forms part of the Tetragrammaton—is similarly protected. Rabbi Jose considered Tzevaot a common name and Rabbi Ishmael that Elohim was, all other names, such as Merciful, Gracious and Faithful, merely represent attributes that are also common to human beings. The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is YHWH, Hebrew is a right-to-left abjad, so the words letters Yōd, Hē, Vav, Hē are usually taken for consonants and expanded to Yahweh or Jehovah in English. The Tetragrammaton first appears in Genesis and occurs 6828 times in total in the Stuttgart edition of the Masoretic Text and it is thought to be an archaic third-person singular imperfect tense of the verb to be. This agrees with the passage in Exodus where God names Himself as I Will Be What I Will Be using the first-person singular imperfect tense. Rabbinical Judaism teaches that the name is forbidden to all except the High Priest and he then pronounces the name just as it is written. As each blessing was made, the people in the courtyard were to prostrate themselves completely as they heard it spoken aloud. As the Temple has been destroyed since CE70, most modern Jews never pronounce YHWH but instead read Adonai during prayer and while reading the Torah and as HaShem at other times. Similarly, the Vulgate used Dominus and most English translations of the Bible write the Lord for YHWH and the Lord God for Adonai YHWH instead of transcribing the name. Or Theos for occurrences of the name. )El appears in Ugaritic, Phoenician and other 2nd, in the Hebrew Bible El appears very occasionally alone, but usually with some epithet or attribute attached, in which cases it can be understood as the generic god. A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim, despite the -im ending common to many plural nouns in Hebrew, the word Elohim when referring to God is grammatically singular, and takes a singular verb in the Hebrew Bible. When the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, there are a few other such uses in Hebrew, for example Behemoth. In Modern Hebrew, the singular word baalim looks plural, a number of scholars have traced the etymology to the Semitic root *yl, to be first, powerful, despite some difficulties with this view. Elohim is thus the plural construct powers, Hebrew grammar allows for this form to mean He is the Power over powers, just as the word Baalim means owner

4.
Aniconism in Judaism
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Aniconism in Judaism covers a number of areas. A number of verses in the Hebrew Bible refer to prohibitions against the creation of forms of images. The strongest over-all source is based on what Judaism counts as the second of the Ten Commandments, do not represent gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to or worship them, I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship. Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the fathers for descendants, to the third, but for those who love Me and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands. For instance, Leviticus 26,1 reads, do not make yourselves false gods, do not raise up a stone idol or a sacred pillar for yourselves. Do not place a stone in your land so that you can prostrate yourselves on it. Based on these prohibitions, the Hebrew prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, the Torah permits drawing of humans as long as they are not used for idolatry. The Shulkhan Arukh states, It is forbidden to make complete solid or raised images of people or angels, the most well-known is the Birds Head Haggadah. Because such creatures as gryphons, harpies, sphynxes, and the phoenix do not actually exist, no violation of the prohibition is perceived in such depictions. This is based on the fact that the Second Commandment, as stated in Exodus, refers specifically to anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. However, it is forbidden to make the four faces on the Divine Chariot or the ministering angels, although the prohibition applies mainly to sculpture, there are some authorities who prohibit two-dimensional full-face depictions. Some base this upon their understanding of the Talmud, and others based it upon Kabbalah, of note is the portrait of Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi, which is housed in the Jewish Museum in London. Based his interpretation of this prohibition, the Hakham Tzvi refused to sit for his portrait, however, the London Jewish Community wanted a portrait, so they commissioned the portrait to be done without the Hakham Tzvis knowledge. The Hakham Tzvis son, Rabbi Jacob Emden, says it was a perfect likeness, additionally, there is one type of representation, namely, bas-relief or raised representation on a flat surface, that is particularly problematic. Rabbi Jacob Emden discusses a medal struck in honor of Rabbi Eliezer Horowitz that features Horowitzs portrait, Emden ruled this violated the injunction against depictions. Furthermore, many hold that such representations in the synagogue either violate this injunction or are not permitted, most notably, Rabbi David ibn Zimra and Rabbi Joseph Karo hold that carvings of lions are inappropriate in synagogues. Although most Hasidic Jews object to having televisions in their homes, this is not related to prohibitions against idolatry, hasidim of all groups regularly display portraits of their Rebbes, and, in some communities, the children trade rabbi cards that are similar to baseball cards

5.
Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
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Kabbalah, the central system in Jewish mysticism, uses subtle anthropomorphic analogies and metaphors to describe God in Judaism. These include male-female influences in the Divine, Kabbalists repeatedly warn and stress the need to divorce their notions from any corporeality, dualism, plurality, or spatial and temporal connotations. As the Torah speaks in the language of Man, the terms are necessarily imposed upon mans experience in this world. Once the analogy is described, its limitations are then related to, stripping the kernel of its husk, understanding Kabbalah through its unity with complete mainstream Talmudic, Halachic and philosophical proficiency was a traditional prerequisite to avoid the false dangers. They attributed 17th-18th century Sabbatean mystical heresies to false corporeality of Kabbalah through unworthy motives, Kabbalah emerged parallel to, and soon after, the rationalist tradition of Medieval Jewish philosophy. He formulated the philosophical transcendence of the Godhead through negative theology, Kabbalists agreed with this but gave a radical, different immanent approach to God by relating to Divine emanations. Nonetheless, Kabbalists carefully chose their terminology to denote subtle connotations and profound relationships in the Divine spiritual influences. org

6.
Atzmus
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Atzmus/Atzmut meaning essence, is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the Divine essence. Reference to Atzmus is usually restricted in Kabbalistic theory to discussion whether Ein Sof represents the ultimate Divine Being in Itself, Hasidic thought however, concerns itself with relating transcendent esoteric Kabbalah to the internalised psychological experience of man. This relates to the Divine essence of Torah and the soul, the essence of the Divine is not restricted to Ein Sof limitlessness or to transcendent Kabbalistic emanation alone. Medieval Jewish philosophers like Maimonides, articulate a transcendent negative theology where it is possible to describe God in terms of what He is not. Here Divine Unity means that Gods singularity is unique and bears no relation to any one can conceive. Kabbalah, influenced by the argument, but seeking the Biblical God who is also immanent, gives a different. It distinguishes between God in Himself and in His emanations, the Infinite Divine, the Ein Sof is beyond all understanding, description or manifestation. Only through the 10 Sephirot Divine attributes is God revealed to Creation, the final sephirah Malchut becomes the feminine Shechina, the immanent indwelling Divinity in Creation. In manifestation God is anthropomorphically described as male and female, where male denotes outward giving and female denotes inward nurturing. He reconciles previous opinions regarding the Divine nature of the sephirot, rather, he should Run and Return towards imagining Divinity, and then rejecting it. In Lurianic Kabbalah the first act of Creation is the primordial Tzimtzum of God, beforehand, the Ohr Ein Sof fills all reality, nullifying potential creation into non-existence. The tzimtzum constitutes a leap, withdrawing the infinite light into God, to allow the latent potentially finite light to emerge. Subsequently, the sephirot reconfigure as Partzufim, recasting Cordoveros linear hierarchy with one of enclothement, before Moshe Cordovero and Isaac Luria gave subsequent systemisations of Kabbalah in the 16th century, Medieval Kabbalists debated the relationship between the Divine Will Keter and the Ein Sof. Cordovero lists Keter as the first sephirah, part of Creation and this brought Kabbalah into tangible daily life, while elevating man through the perception of Divinity within himself. The central focus of this was the Divine immanence in all Creation, in Hasidic philosophy is also a higher, elite perception of the Panentheistic nullification of Creation within the Omnipresent Divine Unity. All is God, and God is All, the ideal mystical perception during moments of prayer is Bittul in the Divine reality, beyond the emotional fervour of Divine immanence. In a renowned parable of the Baal Shem Tov, now this must be understood, do we not know of God, blessed be His Name, that the whole earth is full of His glory, and that, there is no place empty of Him. If so, then His blessed glory is found wherever anyone prays, in that case, why is it necessary for our prayers to be received by angels who go and transmit them from heikhal to heikhal

7.
Ayin and Yesh
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Ayin is an important concept in Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. It is contrasted with the term Yesh, according to kabbalistic teachings, before the universe was created there was only Ayin, and the first manifest Sephirah, Chochmah, comes into being out of Ayin. In this context, the sephirah Keter, the Divine will, is the intermediary between the Divine Infinity and Chochmah, because Keter is a supreme revelation of the Ohr Ein Sof, transcending the manifest sephirot, it is sometimes excluded from them. From the perspective of the emanated created realms, Creation takes place Yesh me-Ayin, since the 13th century, Ayin has been one of the most important words used in kabbalistic texts. The symbolism associated with the word Ayin was greatly emphasized by Moses de León, a Spanish rabbi and kabbalist, through the Zohar, the foundational work of Kabbalah. In Hasidism Ayin relates to the psychological experience of Deveikut. In his Arabic language work Emunoth ve-Deoth, Saadia Gaon, a prominent 9th-century rabbi and this thesis was first translated into Hebrew as yesh me-Ayin, meaning something from nothing, in the 11th century. Both Maimonides and the earlier author of the kabbalistic related work Sefer Yetzirah accepted the formulation of Creation. Chapter 2, Mishnah 6 of the latter includes the sentence, He made His Ayin, Yesh. This statement, like most in Jewish religious texts, can be interpreted in different ways, for example, He made that which wasnt into that which is, or He turned His nothingness into something. Maimonides and other Jewish philosophers argued a doctrine of negative theology, which there are no words to describe what God is. Kabbalah accepted this in relation to Ayin, becoming one of the concepts underlying its significance. For kabbalists, Ayin became the word to describe the most ancient stage of creation and was somewhat paradoxical. Ayin became for kabbalists a symbol of existence and the mystical secret of being and non-being became united in the profound. There is also a relationship between the meaning of Ayin and Yesh from kabbalistic point of view. The populist aspect of Hasidism revived common folk through the nearness of God, especially reflected in Hasidic storytelling, dov Ber, uncompromising esoteric mystic and organiser of the movements future leaders, developed the elite aspect of Hasidic meditation reflected in Bittul in the Divine Ayin Nothingness. The Habad follower contemplates the Hasidic interpretation of Kabbalistic structures, including the concept of Ayin, rachel Elior termed her academic study of Habad intellectual contemplation the Paradoxical ascent to God, as it describes the dialectical paradox of Yesh-Ayin of Creation. In the second section of his magnum opus Tanya, Schneur Zalman explains the Monistic illusionary Ayin nullification of Created Existence from the Divine perspective of Upper Unity

8.
Blue in Judaism
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Blue in Judaism is used to symbolise divinity, because blue is the color of the sky and sea. It can also represent equilibrium, since its hue suggests a shade midway between white and black, day and night. In the Torah, the Israelites were commanded to make tassels, Tzitzit, on the corners of their garments, maimonides claimed that this blue was the color of “the clear noonday sky”, Rashi, the color of the evening sky. According to several Rabbinic sages, blue is the color of God’s Glory, staring at this color aids in meditation, bringing us a glimpse of the “pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity, ” which is a likeness of the Throne of God. Flag of Israel, which contains two blue stripes and a blue Star of David

9.
Bosom of Abraham
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Bosom of Abraham refers to the place of comfort in the Biblical Sheol where the righteous dead await Judgment Day. The phrase and concept are found in both Judaism and Christian religions and religious art, but is not found in Islam, the word found in the Greek text for bosom is kolpos, meaning lap bay. This relates to the Second Temple period practice of reclining and eating meals in proximity to other guests, while commentators generally agree upon the meaning of the Bosom of Abraham, they disagree about its origins. They conceived of the reward of the dead as a sharing in a banquet given by Abraham, the father of the faithful. In First Temple Judaism, Sheol in the Hebrew Old Testament, however, during, or before, the exile in Babylon ideas of activity of the dead in Sheol began to enter Judaism. During the Second Temple period the concept of a Bosom of Abraham first occurs in Jewish papyri that refer to the Bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This reflects the belief of Jewish martyrs who died expecting that, after our death in this fashion Abraham, Isaac, other early Jewish works adapt the Greek mythical picture of Hades to identify the righteous dead as being separated from unrighteous in the fires by a river or chasm. In the pseudepigraphical Apocalypse of Zephaniah the river has an equivalent to Charon in Greek myth. On the other side in the Bosom of Abraham, You have escaped from the Abyss and Hades, to all the righteous ones, namely Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Elijah and David. In this story Abraham was not idle in the Bosom of Abraham, however, since the book is pseudepigraphic to the hand of Enoch, who predates Abraham, naturally the character of Abraham does not feature. Later rabbinical sources preserve several traces of the Bosom of Abraham teaching, leprous Lazarus is carried by the angels to that destination after death. Abrahams bosom contrasts with the destination of a man who ends up in Hades. The account corresponds closely with documented 1st century AD Jewish beliefs, in Christs account, the righteous occupied an abode of their own, which was distinctly separated by a chasm from the abode to which the wicked were consigned. The chasm is equivalent to the river in the Jewish version, but in Christs version there is no angelic ferryman, the fiery part of Hades is distinguished from the separate Old Testament, New Testament and Mishnah concept of Gehenna, which is generally connected with the Last Judgment. The concept of paradise is not mentioned in Luke 16, nor are any of the distinguishing Jewish associations of such as Third Heaven. Consequently, identification of Bosom of Abraham with Paradise is contested and it is not clear whether Matthew 8,11 And I tell you that many will come from the East and West and will eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Represents an alternative or complimentary cosmology to the ideas of Luke 16, in the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome referred to Abrahams bosom as the place in hades where the righteous await judgment day in delight. Augustine of Hippo likewise referred to the dead as disembodied spirits blissfully awaiting Judgment Day in secret receptacles

10.
Covenant (biblical)
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A biblical covenant is a religious covenant that is described in the Bible. All Abrahamic religions consider biblical covenants important, in the Book of Jeremiah, verses 31, 30-33 predict a new covenant that God will establish with the house of Israel. In the ancient middle east, a covenant was an agreement that caused several things,1. First, a covenant defined a relationship and this relationship might be between a king and his vassal states, between a deity and his nation, between two humans, etc.2. Some covenants are conditional, just as with a present-day contract, but generally, ancient covenants are unconditional. Covenants often included the slaughter of animals as a symbol of their significance, unlike present-day contracts, covenants often carried no expiration date. Thus the parties were understood to be bound by the covenant until death, a contract is enforced by the civil government, a covenant is regulated by God. A contract involves the exchange of property or actions, a covenant binds two parties together personally, students of the Bible hold wildly differing opinions as to how many major covenants exist between God and humanity, with numbers ranging from one to at least twelve. The Noahic covenant applies to all of humanity and to all living creatures. The covenant found in Genesis 12-17 is known as the Brit bein HaBetarim, the Covenant Between the Parts in Hebrew, the covenant was for Abraham and his seed, or offspring, both of natural birth and adoption. In Genesis chapters 12–17 three covenants can be distinguished based on the differing Jahwist, Elohist and Priestly sources, in Genesis 12 and 15, God grants Abraham land and a multitude of descendants but does not place any stipulations on Abraham for the covenants fulfillment. By contrast, Genesis 17 contains the covenant of circumcision, to give Abrahams descendants all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. Later, this came to be referred to as the Promised Land or the Land of Israel. To make Abraham the father of many nations and of many descendants, circumcision is to be the permanent sign of this everlasting covenant with Abraham and his male descendants and is known as the brit milah. Covenants in biblical times were often sealed by severing an animal, in Hebrew, the verb meaning to seal a covenant translates literally as to cut. It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of the foreskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant, according to Weinfeld, the Abraham covenant represents a covenant of grant, which binds the suzerain. It is the obligation of the master to his servant and involves gifts given to individuals who were serving their masters. In the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, it is God who is the suzerain who commits himself, in the covenant there are procedures of taking the oath, which involve a smoking oven and a blazing torch

11.
Devekut
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Devekut, debekuth, deveikuth or deveikus is a Jewish concept referring to closeness to God. It may refer to a deep, trance-like meditative state attained during Jewish prayer, Torah study and it is particularly associated with the Jewish mystical tradition. דבק, or devek, the modern Hebrew word for glue literally means to cling and it is sometimes referred to as devekut, dvekut or devekus. The concept of Devekut is important in Jewish culture, particularly in Hasidism and in the history of Jewish thought, mysticism, in modern Israeli Hebrew, Devekut or dvekut is also often a synonym for dedication toward a particular goal. In religious Judaism and in academia, Dvekut refers most commonly to the philosophical, mystical, in Kabbalah, close circles of elite scholars would seek elevated mystical states of devekut, often through ascetic practices. Until its communal popularisation and psychological internalisation in Hasidism in the 18th century, Jewish mystical study, Medieval Kabbalists often adhered to ethical and ascetic practices, such as among the Chassidei Ashkenaz of the 12th-13th century. They sought elevated mystical states as part of their endeavours in Kabbalah Iyunnit and they sought an esoteric, transcendent scholarship in Scriptural exegesis, that involved subtle metaphysical descriptions of Divine emanations and Heavenly Realms. Their elite schools had an influence on wider Jewish thought, with Kabbalah and Hakirah emerging as the two competing traditions of Jewish theology. After the Expulsion from Spain in the 15th century, Kabbalah replaced Hakirah as the theology of Judaism. Kabbalah received great revival among the emergent leading mystic community of 16th century Safed in Israel, the path in dveikut of historical Kabbalah, both in its first Medieval dissemination, and in its 16th century Renaissance, was dependent on many conditions. Kabbalistic thought was limited to more advanced scholars and this was both a historical tradition, and an inherent characteristic. This danger was subsequently born out in the heretical misinterpretations of Kabbalah by the Sabbateans, with advanced understanding, dveikut was allied with ascetic practices. The Hasidic movement, that began in 18th Century Eastern Europe, brought a mystical revival, Hasidism adapts historical Kabbalistic thought in its own characteristic ways, and can be seen as a successive stage of the Jewish mystical tradition. This democratisation of mysticism for everyone involved both outer expressions in fervour, and inner depths in Kabbalistic interpretation. Outwardly, the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, awakened popular mystical joy and dveikut, appreciation of sincerity, new emphasis on prayer, the new doctrine of the Hasidic Rebbe, embodied in charismatic hagiographic storytelling, personified Divinity for the common folk. This related Kabbalistic metaphysics to its corresponding faculties in natural psychological perception, while the expression of dveikut in transcendent Kabbalah was related through transcendent experience, dveikut in immanent Hasidic Divinity was related through essential inward experience. This was accessible to the community, as Hasidism emphasised the superior qualities of both the simple folk and the scholars. With its emphasis on Divine Omnipresence, Hasidic philosophy sought to unify all aspects of spiritual and material life, dveikut was therefore achieved not through ascetic practices that broke the material, but by sublimating materialism into Divine worship

12.
Divine providence in Judaism
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Divine providence is discussed throughout Rabbinic literature, by the classical Jewish philosophers, and by the tradition of Jewish mysticism. The discussion brings into consideration the Jewish understanding of nature, and its reciprocal and this analysis thus underpins much of Orthodox Judaisms world view, particularly as regards questions of interaction with the natural world. Divine providence is discussed by all of the major Jewish philosophers, there are, broadly, two views, differing largely as to the frequency with which God intervenes in the natural order. The first view admits a frequency of miracles, here there is a stability of the natural order which nevertheless allows for the interference of God in the regulation of human events, or even in disturbing the natural order on occasion. The teachings of Nachmanides are largely representative of the first view and he holds that the Creator endowed the universe with physical properties, and sustains the natural order, and that any act of providence involves, by definition, an intrusion into the laws of nature. In the absence of interference, cause and effect governs the affairs of the universe. In Rambans view, reward and punishment — as well as guidance of the fate of Israel — are the expressions of such providence. In this sense there is no difference between God causing it to rain and his separating the waters of the Red Sea, both are the result of Divine intervention. All events are the result of the direct will of God, and, as such, thus, whereas the fate of the Jews as a nation is guided by providence, individuals do not enjoy the same providential relationship with the Almighty. Only the righteous and the wicked can expect providential treatment, the fate of more “average” individuals is primarily guided by natural law. Maimonides is representative of the rationalist school and he holds that the pattern of nature is basically immutable. This Universe remains perpetually with the properties with which the Creator has endowed it. None of these will ever be changed except by way of miracle in some individual instances and this notwithstanding, Maimonides believes that God rewards and punishes appropriately. To some extent, Rambam reconciles the two views by defining providence as a natural process. Here individual providence depends on the development of the mind, that is. Providence is, in fact, a function of intellectual and spiritual activity, it is the activity, both of the above approaches continue to influence contemporary Orthodox Judaism. In general, Nachmanides view is influential in Haredi Judaism, while Maimonides view — in addition to Nachmanides — underpins much of Modern Orthodox thought, note that the Hassidic approach departs somewhat from these, see detail below. Technology, the use and manipulation of nature, Madda, knowledge of the functioning of nature and society, both to facilitate derech eretz and as a complement to Torah study

13.
Glory (religion)
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Glory is used to describe the manifestation of Gods presence as perceived by humans according to the Christian religion. Glory is one of the most common words in scripture, in the Old Testament, the word is used to translate several Hebrew words, including Hod and kabod, and in the New Testament it is used to translate the Greek word doxa. The Hebrew word kabod originally means weight or heaviness, the same word is then used to express importance, honor, and majesty. Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible translated this concept with the word δόξα, doxa originally means judgment, opinion, and by extension, good reputation, honor. Assuming that these words and uses should refer to a single underlying concept, St. Augustine renders it as clara notitia cum laude, brilliant celebrity with praise. ”Moses said, “Please show me your glory. ”But, he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me. Then I will take away my hand, and you see my back. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. In the New Testament, the word is the Greek, δοξα, doxa. For example, at the nativity of Christ, In the countryside close by there were out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them and they were terrified, but the angel said, Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. In the event known as the Transfiguration of Jesus, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory with Jesus, and the disciples who witnessed this revelation, Peter, James and John, saw his glory. In the gospel of John, Jesus says that His destiny begins to be fulfilled when Judas Iscariot sets out to betray Him, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him (John 13,31. Jesus subsequently addresses a long prayer to His Father in which he says, Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed. Catholic doctrine asserts that the world was created as an act of Gods free will for his own glory, catholic doctrine teaches, however, that God does not seek to be glorified for his own sake, but for the sake of mankind that they may know Him. The theologian C. S. Lewis, in his essay The Weight of Glory, either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity. He concludes that glory should be understood in the sense, but states that one should not desire fame before men

14.
God in Judaism
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God in Judaism is understood to be the absolute one, indivisible, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal, while some interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is a force or ideal. God has a name, written YHWH in the Hebrew Bible. In Jewish tradition another name of God is Elohim, the name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton. Jews traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem, in prayer this name is substituted with Adonai, meaning Master or Lord. The worship of gods and the concept of God having multiple persons are equally unimaginable in Judaism. The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical in Judaism – it is considered akin to polytheism, God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of series, nor one like a species, nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. In this way Judaism can be regarded as being similar to panentheism, Kabbalistic tradition holds that the divine consists of ten sefirot. Any belief that an intermediary between humanity and God could be used, whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered heretical, all our prayers should be directed towards God, nothing else should even be considered. Some rabbinic authorities disagreed with this view, notably, Nachmanides was of the opinion that it is permitted to ask the angels to beseech God on our behalf. This argument manifests notably in the Selichot prayer called Machnisay Rachamim, modern printed editions of the Selichot include this prayer. Godhead refers to the aspect or substratum of God that lies behind Gods actions or properties, there is, in truth, no relation in any respect between God and any of Gods creatures. In Kabbalistic thought the term Godhead usually refers to the concept of Ein Sof, the knowability of the Godhead in Kabbalistic thought is no better that what is conceived by rationalist thinkers. As Jacobs puts it, Of God as God is in Godself—Ein Sof—nothing can be said at all, Ein Sof is a place to which forgetting and oblivion pertain. Because concerning all the sefirot, one can search out their reality from the depth of supernal wisdom, from there it is possible to understand one thing from another. However, concerning Ein Sof, there is no aspect anywhere to search or probe, nothing can be known of it, for it is hidden and concealed in the mystery of absolute nothingness. In traditional Judaism, God is conceived of as the eternal, omnipotent and omniscient creator of the universe, God has the power to intervene in the world

15.
Hasidic philosophy
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Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus, alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations, and practice of Judaism as articulated by the Hasidic movement. Thus, Hasidus is a term for the teachings of the Hasidic masters. Hasidus deals with a range of concepts such as God, the soul, and the Torah. It also discusses the religious elements of the movement, but mainly Hasidus describes the structured thought. In other words, it speaks of the soul of Torah, Hasidus and Hasid are terms used in Jewish literature of all ages, and are not limited to adherents of the Hasidic movement, whose philosophy is discussed in this article. The word derives from the Jewish spiritual term Hessed, commonly translated as loving-kindness, and it is also one of the 10 Sephirot of Kabbalah, which represents Gods provision of good and sustenance to the world, and the power underlying similar actions performed by human beings. The Hasid goes above and beyond what is demanded of him by ordinary morality and the boundaries of Halakha, an early mention of the term middat hasidut appears in the Talmud, and thereafter it was used widely in Jewish Halakhic literature. Thus the term hasid should not be mistaken to refer solely to a follower of the Eastern European movement started by the Baal Shem Tov in the 18th century, rather, hasid is a title used for many pious individuals and by many Jewish groups since Biblical times. Some earlier European Jewish movements were called by this name. Today, however, the terms hasidus and hasid generally connote Hasidic philosophy and they refer to the mystical, populist revival of Judaism, initiated by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer in 18th century Podolia and Volhynia. His close disciples developed the philosophy in the years of the movement. From the third generation, the leadership mutually decided to split the Hasidic movement into smaller groups with the hope of more easily spreading hasidus across Eastern Europe. These new leaders, who now were all adherents of the second generation leader, settled in cities from Poland, Hungary and Romania. Hasidic tradition and thought has gained admirers from outside its immediate following, Ḥasidism should in Jewish history be classed among the most momentous spiritual revolutions that have influenced the social life of the Jews, particularly those of eastern Europe. Distilling a culture of Jewish religious life that began before the arrival of modernity, its stories, anecdotes and this quality can bridge and unite the different disciplines of philosophy and mysticism. Hasidic thought builds upon Kabbalah, and is called a new stage in its development. Kabbalah gives the structure of traditional Jewish metaphysics, using subtle categorisations. This studies the Divine interaction with Creation, through describing the emanations that reveal, Hasidus leaves aside the Kabbalistic focus on complicated metaphysical emanations, to look at the simple essence of Divinity that it sees permeating within each level, and transcending all

16.
Image of God
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The Image of God is a concept and theological doctrine in Judaism, Christianity, and Sufi Islam, which asserts that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Philosophers and theologians have debated the meaning of the phrase for millennia. Likewise Maimonides argues that the faculty of reason enables one to become most God-like when that person develops the capacity to grasp the nature of God’s ultimate reality. In Christian thought, the Image of God is intimately linked to the idea of Original Sin. The Image that was present in Adam at creation was partially lost with the Fall of Man, Christian writers have stated that despite the Image of God being partially lost, each person fundamentally has value regardless of class, race, gender or disability. Regardless of the meaning of being made in the Image of God. And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him, Gen 5, 1–3 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him, male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, Gen 9,6 One who spills the blood of man, through/by man, his blood will be spilled, for in Gods image/tselem He made man. Although the Pseudepigrapha texts are numerous, the book noted to make reference to the imago dei is 2 Enoch—namely,2 Enoch 44. And, quite fascinatingly, the text makes reference to the concept twice. 2 Enoch 44, 1-3, The Lord with his own two hands created mankind, and in a facsimile of his own face, small and great the Lord created. Whoever insults a persons face insults the face of the Lord, whoever treats with contempt the face of any person treats the face of the Lord with contempt. Anger and judgement whoever spits on a persons face, according to the translator and/or editor of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, this verse has similarities in structure and meaning to Genesis 1,27 and Wisdom of Solomon 6,7, respectively. It is estimated the reference to small and great concerned ranking, certainly this passage exceeds Genesis 1,27 in its descriptive nature,2 Enoch 44, 1a details how humans are made in Gods image—namely, as duplicates of Gods own face. 2 Enoch 65,2,2 And however much time there was went by, understand how, on account of this, he constituted man in his own form, in accordance with a similarity. And he gave him eyes to see, ears to hear, and heart to think and this chapter of 2 Enoch almost functions as its own retelling of the creation account, albeit in a very truncated manner. When considering extra-biblical texts, the Apocrypha, a collection of texts with a widespread debate about canonicity

17.
Jewish schisms
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Schisms among the Jews are cultural as well as religious. They have happened as a product of historical accident, geography, the Hebrew Bible describes Levantine civilization at the time of Solomons Temple as prone to idol worship, astrology, worship of reigning kings, and paganism. The divinities or idols worshipped included Baal and possibly Asherah and this was in direct contrast to the teachings in the Torah, and was condemned by the ancient Biblical prophets who attacked those Israelites and Judeans who became idol worshipers. The biblical narrative describes the split by the Kingdom of Israel from the Kingdom of Judah and it points to Solomons unfaithfulness to the divine covenant as the reason for the schism. When Rehoboam, Solomons son, became king, the requested tax reform. At first, Rehoboam considered a military solution but the prophet Shemaiah told him not fight because God had caused the schism, jeroboam, the leader of the tax revolt, became the leader of the Northern Kingdom. He built a temple with calf-like idol images that were condemned by the Judeans of Judah. After the destruction and exile of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Assyria, the narratives of Jeremiah and others interpreted this as the cause of the failure, destruction, and exile of the southern Kingdom of Judah by Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar had additional reasons for taking over Judah and turning its inhabitants into exiles, one small sect of Samaritans is still extant. The Samaritan faith and that of other Jews diverged over two millennia ago and they consider themselves to be Bnei Yisrael, a term used universally by Jewish denominations for the Jewish people as a whole, but do not call themselves Yehudim. The word Yehudim comes from the hebrew word Yehudi which means from the tribe of Judah, they consider themselves to be descendants of the tribes of Efraim, therefore, they consider that Yehudim is only applicable to mainstream Jews. This was a time when the Jews lived under Persian, Greek, the main internal struggles during this era were between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as well as the Essenes and Zealots. According to Josephus, the Sadducees differed from the Pharisees on a number of doctrinal grounds and they appear to have dominated the aristocracy and the temple, but their influence over the wider Jewish population was limited. The Essenes preached a reclusive way of life, the Zealots advocated armed rebellion against any foreign power such as Rome. All were at violent logger-heads with each other, leading to the confusion and disunity that ended with the destruction of the Second Temple and the sacking of Jerusalem by Rome. The first Christians were the original Jewish followers of Jesus, a Galilean healer, preacher, and, according to early Christian belief, the resurrected messiah. After his crucifixion by the Romans, his followers broke over whether they should continue to observe Jewish law and those who argued that the law was abrogated broke to form Christianity. Karaite Judaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the Tanakh as the source of binding Jewish Law

18.
Kabbalah
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Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought that originated in Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist in Judaism is called a Mekubbal, Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof and the mortal and finite universe. While it is used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. It forms the foundations of religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence and it also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realisation. Kabbalah originally developed within the realm of Jewish tradition, and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain, traditional practitioners believe its earliest origins pre-date world religions, forming the primordial blueprint for Creations philosophies, religions, sciences, arts, and political systems. Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah and it was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. According to the Zohar, a text for kabbalistic thought. These four levels are called pardes from their initial letters, peshat, the direct interpretations of meaning. Derash, midrashic meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses, sod, the inner, esoteric meanings, expressed in kabbalah. Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah being an inherent duty of observant Jews. A third tradition, related but more shunned, involves the magical aims of Practical Kabbalah and they can be readily distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God, The Theosophical tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah seeks to understand and describe the divine realm. Consequently, it formed a minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. According to traditional belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BC, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel. Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time to hide the knowledge and make it secret and it is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with different outlooks, however. From the Renaissance onwards Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish culture, where they were studied and translated by Christian Hebraists, syncretic traditions of Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah, reading the Jewish texts as universal ancient wisdom. Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Judaic understanding, to merge with other theologies, religious traditions, with the decline of Christian Cabala in the Age of Reason, Hermetic Qabalah continued as a central underground tradition in Western esotericism

19.
Priesthood of Melchizedek
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The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions, modelled on Melchizedek, combining the dual position of king and priest. Melchizedek is a king and priest appearing in the Book of Genesis, the name means King of Righteousness - a name echoing kingly and priestly functions. He is the first individual to be given the title Kohen in the Hebrew Bible, in the King James Version, the Book of Psalms names Melchizedek as representative of the priestly line through which a future king of Israels Davidic line was ordained. The Law of Moses stipulates that only the descendants of Aaron be commissioned to serve as Jewish priests before the God of Israel. This commission is believed in Judaism to be a covenant of everlasting priesthood, judaic midrash identifies Melchizedek with Shem the son of Noah. Although the Book of Genesis affirms that Melchizedek was priest of God Most High, midrashic literature attributes this transition as a consequence due to Melchizedek preceding the name of Abraham to that of God, such as in the Midrash Rabbah to Genesis. While some Jewish commentators, such as Chaim ibn Attar, write that Melchizedek gave the priesthood to Abraham willingly and he also instructed his sons to perpetuate this status of Levi for eternity. For the prelude of this choice see Targum Yonathan to Genesis 32,25, in midrash, it is written that Amram the son of Kohath the son of Levi was the spiritual leader of the sons of Jacob during their Egyptian Bondage. Following his passing, his post was assumed by his son Aaron, the Zohar defines the noted Melchizedek as referring to Ahron the Kohen Gadol. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah spoken of as a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, and so Jesus plays the role of the king-priest once and for all. Melchizedek is referred to again in Hebrews 5, 6-10, Hebrews 6,20, Hebrews 7, 1-21, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and Hebrews 8,1. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. Since Aaron was in Abrahams loins then, it was as if the Aaronic priesthood were paying tithes to Melchizedek, the one who blesses is always greater than the one being blessed. Thus, Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, as Levi was yet in the loins of Abraham, it follows that Melchizedek is greater than Levi. If the priesthood of Aaron were effective, God would not have called a new priest in a different order in Psalm 110, the basis of the Aaronic priesthood was ancestry, the basis of the priesthood of Melchizedek is everlasting life. That is, there is no due to a priests death. Christ, being sinless, does not need a sacrifice for his own sins, the priesthood of Melchizedek is more effective because it required a single sacrifice once and for all, while the Levitical priesthood made endless sacrifices. The Aaronic priests serve in a copy and shadow of the heavenly Temple

20.
Messiah
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In Abrahamic religions, the Messiah, is the one chosen to lead the world and thereby save it. The term also appears in the forms Messias, Christ, or Al-Masih, the concepts of the Messiah, Messianism, and the Messianic Age grew from Isaiahs writings during the latter half of the 8th century BCE. The term comes from the Hebrew verb meaning to apply oil to, to anoint, in the Hebrew Bible, Israels kings were sometimes called Gods messiah -- Gods anointed one. A messiah could also be a high priest or prophet. Messiahs did not even need to descend from Jacob, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. In Judaism, the Jewish Messiah, often referred to as King Messiah, is expected to descend from King David, the Jerusalem Temples rebuilding will usher in a Messianic Age of global peace. In Christianity, the Messiah is called the Christ, from Ancient Greek, χριστός, the concept of the Messiah in Christianity originated from the Messiah in Judaism. However, unlike the concept of the Messiah in Judaism and Islam, in Chabad messianism, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, and Menachem Mendel Schneerson, seventh Rebbe of Chabad, are Messiah claimants. Resembling early Christianity, the deceased Menachem Mendel Schneerson is believed to be the Messiah among adherents of the Chabad movement, in Hebrew, the Messiah is often referred to as מלך המשיח (Meleḵ ha-Mašīaḥ in the Tiberian vocalization, pronounced, literally meaning the Anointed King. The Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament renders all thirty-nine instances of the Hebrew word for anointed as Χριστός, the New Testament records the Greek transliteration Μεσσίας, Messias twice in John. Al-Masīḥ is the Arabic word for messiah, in modern Arabic, it is used as one of the many titles of Jesus. Masīḥ is used by Arab Christians as well as Muslims, and is written as Yasūʿ al-Masih by Arab Christians or ʿĪsā al-Masīḥ by Muslims, the word al-Masīḥ literally means the anointed, the traveller, or the one who cures by caressing. In Quranic scripture, Jesus is mentioned as having been sent down by Allah, strengthened by the spirit, and hence, anointed with the task of being a prophet. The Israelites, to whom Isa was sent, had a practice of anointing their kings with oil. An Imam Bukhari hadith describes Jesus as having wet hair that looked as if water was dripping from it, Muslims believe that this is just one of the many signs that proves that Jesus is the Messiah. The literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach is anointed, which refers to a ritual of consecrating someone or something by putting holy oil upon it, in Judaism, the Messiah is not considered to be God or a pre-existent divine Son of God. He is considered to be a political leader that has descended from King David. That is why he is referred to as Messiah ben David, the messiah, in Judaism, is considered to be a great, charismatic leader that is well oriented with the laws that are followed in Judaism

21.
Mosaic covenant
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The Mosaic covenant, also known as the Sinaitic Covenant, refers to a biblical covenant between God and the biblical Israelites, including their proselytes. Scholars have examined the sources of the Mosaic covenant, including those within the Pentateuch, in the mid-twentieth century, George Mendenhall advanced comparisons of the covenant with agreements in nearby cultures. The concept of a covenant began long before the biblical era, according to George E. Mendenhall, covenants were originally established as legal customs and then later were replicated in the field of religion. These covenants were created on the basis of an oath, a promise between two parties followed by performance, engaging in an oath implied that if one side were to default, God would consequently ensure they receive proper punishment. Such covenants assured that either blessings or curses be enacted in response to the circumstances, however, in addition to the legal influence in regards to the creation of covenants, Mendenhall also addresses the theory behind blood ties and their significance to the concept of a covenant. As stated in the bible, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the descendants of Israel and because of their shared blood, they consequently form a bond. This blood tie is compared to the tie that is established by a covenant, according to Mendenhall, the covenant was not just an idea, but actually a historical event. This event was the formation of the covenant community, wandering the desert, the clans left Egypt following Moses. These people were all of different backgrounds, containing no status in any social community, with all these circumstances they formed their own community by a covenant whose texts turned into the Decalogue. The Israelites did not bind themselves to Moses as their leader though, Moses was just seen as a historical figure of some type sent as a messenger. The Israelites followed the form of the suzerainty treaty and were bound to obey stipulations that were set by Yahweh, not Moses. In addition to Mendenhalls input and perspective, Weinfeld argues that there are two forms of covenants to have occurred throughout the Old Testament,1. )These translate to a “political treaty” as evidenced by the Hittite Empire, and a “royal grant” as shown through the covenants tied to Abraham and David. A treaty entails a promise to the master by the vassal and this consequently works in a manner that promotes future loyalty of the vassal since the suzerain had previously done favors for them. A grant on the other pertains to an obligation from the master to his servant thus ensuring protection of the servant’s rights. This method of covenant emphasizes focus on rewarding loyalty and good deeds that have already been done, Weinfeld supports his characterization of a treaty by identifying the parallels exposed through the covenant between Yahweh and Israel. Similarly, he utilizes the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant to reveal its correspondence with a royal grant, in an article comparing covenants and forms of treaties common at the time, Mendenhall focuses on Hittite suzerainty treaties. These treaties, established between an emperor and inferior king, were defined by several important elements, the treaties were based on past aid or good fortune that the suzerain had previously delivered unto the vassal and the obligations that the vassal, therefore, had to the suzerain. This foundation for a treaty relationship is similar to the foundation for the Mosaic covenant, God had delivered the Israelites from Egypt in the Exodus, and they therefore are obligated to follow the commandments in the Decalogue

22.
Ohr
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Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations, shefa is sometimes alternatively used in Kabbalah, a term also used in Medieval Jewish Philosophy to mean Divine influence, while the Kabbalists favour Ohr because its numerical value equals Raz. It is one of the two main metaphors in Kabbalah for understanding Divinity, along with the metaphor of the human soul-body relationship for the Sephirot. The metaphorical description of spiritual Divine creative-flow, using the term for physical light perceived with the eye and these include the intangible physicality of light, the delight it inspires and the illumination it gives, its apparently immediate transmission and constant connection with its source. Light can be veiled and reflected, white light divides into 7 colours, yet this plurality unites from one source. Divine light divides into the 7 emotional Sephirot, but there is no plurality in the Divine essence, the term Ohr in Kabbalah is contrasted with Maohr, the luminary, and Kli, the spiritual vessel for the light. As a metaphor it also has its limitations, Divinity can only be understood from analogous comparisons to the spatial and temporal phenomena we understand. Once these images are grasped, Kabbalah stresses the need to attempt to transcend them by understanding their deficiencies. For God, the Creation metaphorically arose in the Divine Will and was not impelled, the emanation of Creation fills no lack in the perfection of God. The distinction between the Divine light and the Divine Source appears only relative to Creation, from Gods perspective, Scripture states For I, the Eternal, I have not changed. From the perspective of Gods self-knowledge, the emanations remain completely united and nullified to their source and this answers early Rabbinic criticism of dualism in Kabbalah. The term in Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy for this nullification is Bittul, in daily spiritual life it inspires the mystical humility of nullification of the ego. The Ein Sof is the Kabbalistic term for the Divine essence, Kabbalah describes 10 Sephirot, that reveal the unknowable Godhead to the creations and channel the creative life-force to all levels of existence. However, these 10 attributes of God do not represent the Divine essence, the Kabbalists differentiated between the manifestations of God, and their origin in the Divine essence. This difference overcame the criticism that they were introducing plurality into the pure Monotheism of Judaism, Kabbalistic texts take great care to emphasise this difference, and warn against anthropomorphising the subtle descriptions of Kabbalah in human terms. To avoid such heresies, the transmission of Kabbalah was traditionally restricted to direct teaching in close circles. As well as the 10 lights of God encapsulated in the Sephirot and this light, the origin of all Creation, and all lower lights, is called the Ohr Ein Sof. The Kabbalistic and Hasidic masters ask the question of how there can be a revelation of God, in the Ohr Ein Sof, surely, there can be no king without a people

23.
Shekhinah
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Shekinah, Shechinah, or Schechinah, is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning dwelling or settling and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature, ‹See Tfd› Shekinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. The Semitic root means to settle, inhabit, or dwell and this abstract noun is not present in the Bible, and is first encountered in rabbinic literature. The word for the Tabernacle, mishkan, is a derivative of the root and is used in the sense of dwelling-place in the Bible, e. g. Psalms 132,5. The concept is similar to that in the Gospel of Matthew 18,20, some Christian theologians have connected the concept of Shekhinah to the Greek term Parousia, presence or arrival, which is used in the New Testament in a similar way for divine presence. The Shekinah is held by some to represent the attributes of the presence of God. The Shekinah is referred to as manifest in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem throughout Rabbinic literature and it is also reported as being present in the acts of public prayer. So too in the Talmud Sanhedrin 39a, we read, Whenever ten are gathered for prayer, there the Shekinah rests, it also connotes righteous judgment, and personal need. The word shekina does not occur in the Bible, although the similar word shakan, there is also no occurrence of the word in pre-rabbinic literature such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is only afterwards in the targums and rabbinic literature that the Hebrew term shekinah, or Aramaic equivalent shekinta, is found, and then becomes extremely common. In the Targum the addition of the noun term Shekinah paraphases Hebrew verb phrases such as Exodus 34,9 let the Lord go among us which Targum paraphrases with Gods shekinah. In the post-temple era usage of the term Shekinah may provide a solution to the problem of God being omnipresent, and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, isaiah wrote I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple. Jeremiah implored Do not dishonor the throne of glory and referred to Thy throne of glory, on high from the beginning. The Book of Ezekiel speaks of the glory of the God of Israel was there and this recurrent theme is best known from the writings and songs of the legendary mystic of the 16th century, Rabbi Isaac Luria. For the Shabbat is a queen and a bride and this is why the masters of the Mishna used to go out on the eve of Shabbat to receive her on the road, and used to say, Come, O bride, come, O bride. And one must sing and rejoice at the table in her honor, one must receive the Lady with many lighted candles, many enjoyments, beautiful clothes, and a house embellished with many fine appointments. The tradition of the Shekinah as the Shabbat Bride, the Shabbat Kallah, the 17th blessing of the daily Amidah prayer said in Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform services is Blessed are You, God, who returns His Presence to Zion

24.
Sheol
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The inhabitants of Sheol are the shades, entities without personality or strength. Under some circumstances they are thought to be able to be contacted by the living, as the Witch of Endor contacts the shade of Samuel for Saul, but such practices are forbidden. While the Old Testament writings appear to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, brichto, writing in Hebrew Union College Annual, the family tomb is the central concept in understanding biblical views of the afterlife. Although not well defined in the Tanakh, Sheol in this view was an underworld where the souls of the dead went after the body died. The Babylonians had a similar underworld called Aralu, and the Greeks had one known as Hades. For biblical references to Sheol see Genesis 42,38, Isaiah 14,11, Psalm 141,7, Daniel 12,2, Proverbs 7,27 and Job 10,21,22, the Hebrew Scriptures themselves have few references to existence after death. The notion of resurrection appears in two late biblical sources, Daniel 12 and Isaiah 25-26, the traditional biblical interpretations explain that Sheol is a grim and desolated land below, occupied by the dead who continue their colorless existence irrespective of their earthly conduct. Contrary to this however, the Hebrew Bible supports the descriptions of Sheol which suggest that it is something more than just a place. In terms of numbers the amount of anthropomorphic descriptions is significant. Sheol is either portrayed by means of human qualities or attributed with the elements of anatomy, womb, hand. Some additional support for this comes from the ancient Near Eastern literary materials. For example, the Akkadian plates mention the name shuwalu or suwala in reference to a deity responsible for ruling the abode of the dead, as such it might have been borrowed by the Hebrews and incorporated into their early belief system. What is more, some argue that Sheol understood anthropomorphically fits the semantic complex of the other ancient Near Eastern death deities such as Nergal, Ereshkigal or Mot. Barzakh Biblical cosmology Christian views on Hades Gehenna Hellenistic Judaism Limbo of the Patriarchs Spirit world Tartarus Aune, Westminster Dictionary of the New Testament and Early Christian Literature. The Formation of Hell, Death and Retribution in the Ancient, hess, Richard S. Israelite Religions, An Archeological and Biblical Survey. Hell with Purgatory and two Limbos, Hell and Its Afterlife, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, the Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible. In Metzger, Bruce Manning, Coogan, Michael David, the Oxford Guide to Ideas & Issues of the Bible

The Baal Shem Tov taught the value of both laymen and scholars. In a parable, the Tzadik's prayers are like standing on shoulders to reach a high bird. The people give the Rebbe mystical abilities. The Rebbe lives for the followers

In Hasidic literature, Love and Awe of God are compared to the warmth of gold and luminosity of silver. The rise of a flame reflects the soul's desire to rise

Art inspired by the initial Tzimtzum "constriction" in the Ohr Ein Sof, taught by Isaac Luria in the 16th century, to allow self-aware Creation to emerge. It is understood without spatial connotation, according to the incorporality of Divinity

Jacob's vision in Genesis 28:12 of a ladder between Heaven and Earth. Kabbalah relates this to the chain of Worlds. Angels embody spiritual levels of enclothed ohr-light. They "ascend and descend" in ratzu-run nullification desire, and shuv-return purpose of Creation

Joseph interprets Pharaoh's Dream (Genesis 41:15–41). Of the Biblical figures in Judaism, Yosef is customarily called the Tzadik. Where the Patriarchs lived supernally as shepherds, the quality of righteousness contrasts most in Joseph's holiness amidst foreign worldliness. In Kabbalah, Joseph embodies the Sephirah of Yesod, the lower descending connection of spirituality to materiality, the social role of the Tzadik in Hasidism.

Kabbalah describes an extension of Moses in each generation, alternately identified with the Tzadik of the generation, and the potential Messiah of the generation. In Hasidism, each person's soul essence relates to the level of Moses.